The relation between 21st-century skills and digital skills: A systematic literature review

Innovation starts with people, making the human capital within the workforce decisive. In a fast-changing knowledge economy, 21st-century digital skills drive organizations' competitiveness and innovation capacity. Although such skills are seen as crucial, the digital aspect integrated with 21s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Computers in human behavior Vol. 72; pp. 577 - 588
Main Authors: van Laar, Ester, van Deursen, Alexander J.A.M., van Dijk, Jan A.G.M., de Haan, Jos
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elmsford Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2017
Elsevier Science Ltd
Subjects:
21st-century skills
Creativity
Critical thinking
Digital literacy
Digital skills
Ethics
Human capital
Information management
Information technology
Innovations
Knowledge economy
Labor
Lifelong learning
Literature reviews
Problem solving
Skills
Studies
Systematic literature review
21st-century skills
Digital literacy
Labor
Digital skills
Systematic literature review
ISSN:0747-5632, 1873-7692
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Innovation starts with people, making the human capital within the workforce decisive. In a fast-changing knowledge economy, 21st-century digital skills drive organizations' competitiveness and innovation capacity. Although such skills are seen as crucial, the digital aspect integrated with 21st-century skills is not yet sufficiently defined. The main objectives of this study were to (1) examine the relation between 21st-century skills and digital skills; and (2) provide a framework of 21st-century digital skills with conceptual dimensions and key operational components aimed at the knowledge worker. A systematic literature review was conducted to synthesize the relevant academic literature concerned with 21st-century digital skills. In total, 1592 different articles were screened from which 75 articles met the predefined inclusion criteria. The results show that 21st-century skills are broader than digital skills – the list of mentioned skills is far more extensive. In addition, in contrast to digital skills, 21st-century skills are not necessarily underpinned by ICT. Furthermore, we identified seven core skills: technical, information management, communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving. Five contextual skills were also identified: ethical awareness, cultural awareness, flexibility, self-direction and lifelong learning. •Conducted a systematic literature review to examine 21st-century digital skills for work.•1592 different articles were screened from which 75 articles were included.•21st-century skills are broader and more often on conceptual level than digital skills.•We propose a framework of 7 core and 5 contextual 21st-century digital skills.
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ISSN:0747-5632
1873-7692
DOI:10.1016/j.chb.2017.03.010